Sharon is one of our longest standing BAAPT members, having joined when the chapter met at Stanford University.

​Learn about Sharon, and how BAAPT has played an important role in her life.

I was introduced to the MBTI® assessment in 1980, while I was interviewing for jobs in my new home: California. A nursing director (who will remain unnamed) asked me to “take this test to see if you fit with our ICU staff.” However, being an impatient person with INTJ preferences, I took a different job before they came to a decision about me “fitting in”!In 1985, a friend who happened to be a trainer, certified me, and from then on, I was hooked, an aficionado.

For the next 15 years, I administered the instrument to my RN students and gave them workshops. In the process, I collected data on their types and researched the best teaching methodologies for that population. I wrote a paper on my findings and was invited to present at the 2000 conference, Creating Collaborative Learning Communities: The Role of Type in Education in Gainesville, Florida. What a thrill that was, especially when my husband Larry and I were invited to a reception and shared a glass of wine with Mary McCauley. It was at that conference that I learned about BAAPT.I went to my first BAAPT meeting that year on the Stanford campus, full of trepidation. A lovely woman, Diane Weston, registered me and made me feel welcome. Then I went out on the patio and “joined” the introverts, who were scattered around reading books. But, Diane’s kindness won me over, and I joined BAAPT before I went home. Soon after, I met Tereza McNamee and discovered that we lived about a mile apart; we’ve been walking partners ever since.I was a loyal member, and as was my usual inclination, first I joined the program committee—I remember meeting somewhere in the East Bay, arguing over what were the best programs to present. Committee members Karen Keefer, Richard Hendrickson, Paula Swanson and John Parker were some of my first BAAPT friends. Then I did the unlovely job of librarian, hauling boxes of books and audio tapes to each meeting. My last position was three years as treasurer; I was so grateful to pass it on to Mike Murphy.Now in my antiquity, I come to enjoy the programs and all the wonderful people I’ve known over the past 16 years. In fact, Rob Weston, Diane Schaffer, and Smadar Agmon helped me launch my new business as an editor and tutor—they were my cheerleaders, as were Julie Wright and Mary Lynne Schoenbeck. But, I’m certainly not through with BAAPT; I hope to again volunteer in some capacity because now BAAPT is my family.